VIA Rail Canada
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A Via train at the station in London, Ontario.
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| Crown Corporation | |
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Headquarters | Place Ville Marie, Montreal, Quebec |
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Area served
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Canada |
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Key people
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Eric Stefanson (Interim Chairman) Yves Desjardins-Siciliano (President & CEO) |
| Revenue |
 CA$297.8 million (2015) |
 CA$-353.4 million (2016) |
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| Total assets |
CA$1,357 million (2016) |
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Number of employees
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2,577 (2015) |
| Website | www |
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| Reporting mark | VIA |
|---|---|
| Locale |
 Canada
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| Dates of operation | 1977–present |
| Predecessor | The passenger rail services offered by CN and CP |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 12,500 km (7,800 mi) |
Via Rail Canada (reporting mark VIA) (/ˈviə/; generally shortened to Via Rail or Via; styled corporately as VIA Rail Canada) is an independent Crown corporation, subsidized by Transport Canada, mandated to offer intercity passenger rail services in Canada.
Via Rail operates 475 trains per week in eight Canadian provinces (exceptions are Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island) over a network of 12,500 kilometres (7,800 mi) of track, 98% of which is owned and maintained by other railway companies, mostly by Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). Via Rail carried approximately 3.8 million passengers in 2015, the majority on routes along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor.
Yearly passenger levels on Canada's passenger trains peaked at 60 million during World War II. Following the war the growth of air travel and the personal automobile caused significant loss of mode share for Canada's passenger train operators. By the 1960s it was obvious to both Canadian National Railway (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) that passenger trains were no longer economically viable. The CP sought to divest itself of its trains but federal government regulators and politicians balked, forcing the CP to maintain a minimal service through the 1970s, with the government subsidizing up to 80% of losses. CN, being a Crown corporation at that time, was encouraged by the federal government and political interests to invest in passenger trains. Innovative marketing schemes such as Red, White, and Blue fares, new equipment such as scenic dome cars and rail diesel cars, and services such as Rapido and the UAC TurboTrain trains temporarily increased numbers of passengers, reversing previous declines.
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